Information processing device, information processing method, program, and information processing system

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing device including an event cluster creation unit configured to create an event cluster including, among a plurality of types of content, reference content serving as a reference and related content, the related content having a different type from the reference content and indicating the same event as the reference content, and a meta information appending unit configured to create meta information about the event on the basis of the event cluster and append the meta information to the event cluster.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, aninformation processing method, a program, and an information processingsystem.

As shown in JP 2002-344867A, for example, there is known a technique ofappending to photo content created by a user location informationindicating the location where the photo content was created and subjectinformation indicating the subject of the photo content.

SUMMARY

In the aforementioned technique, however, just location information andsubject information are presented in addition to the photo content.Thus, the user has been unable to recall an event when the photo contentwas created in detail. Thus, a technique that allows a user to recall anevent in detail is desired.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is providedan information processing device including an event cluster creationunit configured to create an event cluster including, among a pluralityof types of content, reference content serving as a reference andrelated content, the related content having a different type from thereference content and indicating the same event as the referencecontent, and a meta information appending unit configured to create metainformation about the event on the basis of the event cluster and appendthe meta information to the event cluster.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided an information processing method including creating an eventcluster including, among a plurality of types of content, referencecontent serving as a reference and related content, the related contenthaving a different type from the reference content and indicating thesame event as the reference content, and creating meta information aboutthe event on the basis of the event cluster and appending the metainformation to the event cluster.

According to still another embodiment of the present disclosure, thereis provided a program for causing a computer to implement an eventcluster creation function for creating an event cluster including, amonga plurality of types of content, reference content serving as areference and related content, the related content having a differenttype from the reference content and indicating the same event as thereference content, and a meta information appending function forcreating meta information about the event on the basis of the eventcluster and appending the meta information to the event cluster.

According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided an information processing system including a server includingan event cluster creation unit configured to create an event clusterincluding, among a plurality of types of content, reference contentserving as a reference and related content, the related content having adifferent type from the reference content and indicating the same eventas the reference content, a meta information appending unit configuredto create meta information about the event on the basis of the eventcluster and append the meta information to the event cluster, and acommunication unit configured to transmit the event cluster with themeta information appended thereto, and a user terminal configured topresent the event cluster transmitted from the server to a user.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to create an eventcluster including a plurality of types of content related to the sameevent and meta information related to the event, and present them to auser.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure described above,as a user can collectively check a plurality of types of content, theuser can recall an event in detail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an information processingsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a server configuration in accordancewith the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control unit;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a storage unit;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedures of a process performed byan information processing system;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing content created by a given userfor a given event;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing content created by another userfor the same content;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an imagedisplayed on a display of a user terminal;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an imagedisplayed on a user terminal; and

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an imagedisplayed on a user terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

Note that the description will be made in the following order.

1. Study on Related Art

2. Configuration of Information Processing System

-   -   2-1. Overall Configuration    -   2-2. Configuration of Event Automatic Creation Server    -   2-3. Configuration of User Terminal

3. Procedures of Information Processing System

<1. Study on Related Art>

The inventors have conducted concentrated studies on the art related tothe present disclosure, and consequently developed an informationprocessing system related to the present disclosure. Thus, studiesconducted by the inventors will be described first.

When a user experiences some event, he/she creates and uploads contentusing various types of web services to record a memory of the event.Examples of such web services include a photo content management serviceand a social networking service.

That is, a user uploads photo content to a server using a photo contentmanagement server. Alternatively, a user, using a social networkingservice, creates various types of social content and uploads them to aserver. Social content is content other than photo content among piecesof content that are provided on a social networking service. Examples ofsocial content include albums, blogs, short blogs, tags, chat, mails,event calendars, contact information, and user profiles. An album is acollection of a plurality of pieces of photo content indicating the sameevent. That is, in this embodiment, an album is handled as socialcontent. An event calendar is data in which an event generation place,event information, and event participants (e.g., attendees orparticipants) and the like are recorded for each date. Contactinformation is information disclosed on the social network, and isinformation needed to contact (access) a user of the social network(e.g., user ID or various addresses). A user profile includes the name,sex, birthday, postal address, family make-up, hobby, belongingorganization, and the like of the user.

A user views content and shares the content with other users using a webservice. However, so far, users have been able to view only a singletype of content on each web service. For example, users have been ableto view only photo content on a photo management service. Meanwhile,users have been able to view only blogs on a blog-related socialnetworking service. That is, in the past web services, even when a usercreates a plurality of types of content for the same event, suchplurality pieces of content are dispersed.

Meanwhile, a user has been unable to, only by viewing a single type ofcontent, fully recall an event related to the content. For example, auser has been unable to, only by viewing photo content (or a slide showin which photo content switches with time), recall what feeling he/shehad or what type of conversation he/she had with his/her friend whenparticipating in the event. Thus, in the past web services, users havebeen unable to recall an event in detail.

As a method for allowing a user to recall an event in detail, colletingdispersed pieces of content by the user is considered, for example. Inthis method, however, the user should perform a manual operation torecall the event in detail. In particular, as meta information appendedto each content, namely, information that becomes a key for collectionis not always common, quite a large amount of labor would be needed forthe user operation. Thus, as the user should recall an event in detailin this method, a large amount of labor would be needed.

In addition, as described above, meta information appended to eachcontent is not always common. Further, meta information appended to eachcontent is not the one in which the whole event is taken intoconsideration. Therefore, with the past web services, a user has beenunable to promptly recall a summary of an event only by viewing metainformation.

Note that there is known a service that classifies a plurality of piecesof photo content on the basis of the creation time and creation place ofthe photo content. With this service, however, a user has been able toview only photo content. Therefore, the user should, in order to recallan event in detail, collect content other than the photo content, suchas social content, through a manual operation.

There is also known a service that associates a subject of (a characterin) photo content with a user on a social network. With this service,however, a user has been able to view only photo content. Therefore, theuser should, in order to recall an event in detail, collect contentother than the photo content, such as social content, through a manualoperation.

There is also known a service that concurrently displays a plurality oftypes of content. However, this service does not at all take therelevance of each content into consideration. That is, a plurality ofpieces of content related to the same event are dispersed. Thus, in thisservice also, the user should, in order to recall an event in detail,collect the dispersed content through a manual operation.

Meanwhile, as described above, JP 2002-344867A discloses a technique ofappending to photo content created by a user location informationindicating a location where the photo content was created and subjectinformation indicating the subject of the photo content. This technique,however, does not at all take into consideration content other than thephoto content, such as social content. Thus, the user should, in orderto recall an event in detail, collect content other than the photocontent, such as social content, through a manual operation.

JP 2008-207451A discloses a technique of appending to each contentweight information in accordance with the importance of a memory. Thistechnique, however, does not at all take into consideration contentother than photo content, such as social content. Thus, the user should,in order to recall an event in detail, collect content other than thephoto content, such as social content, through a manual operation.

JP 2010-148056A discloses a technique of presenting a plurality of typesof content on the basis of a history of user operations. However, thistechnique only presents a plurality of types of content on the basis ofa history of user operations, and the plurality of pieces of thedisplayed content do not indicate the same event. Thus, in thistechnique also, the user should, in order to recall an event in detail,collet the dispersed content through a manual operation.

JP 2010-193265A discloses a technique of creating schedule data on thebasis of photo content. However, in this technique also, content otherthan the photo content, such as social content, is not taken intoconsideration at all. Thus, in this technique also, the user should, inorder to recall an event in detail, collet the dispersed content througha manual operation.

JP 2010-218371A discloses a technique of supporting tagging to photocontent. However, in this technique also, content other than the photocontent, such as social content, is not taken into consideration at all.Thus, in this technique also, the user should, in order to recall anevent in detail, collet the dispersed content through a manualoperation.

In contrast to each of the aforementioned techniques, with aninformation processing system 1 in accordance with the presentdisclosure, a user can promptly recall a summary of an event. Further,the user can easily recall the details of an event. Hereinafter, theinformation processing system 1 will be described in detail.

<2. Configuration of Information Processing System> [2-1. OverallConfiguration]

First, the overall configuration of the information processing system 1will be described. The information processing system 1 includes an eventautomatic creation server 10, a service providing server 20, a network30, and user terminals 40 and 50.

The event automatic creation server 10 acquires a plurality of types ofcontent from the content providing server 20, and gathers, among theacquired content, content related to the same event to create an eventcluster. Further, the event automatic creation server 10, on the basisof the event cluster, creates meta information about the event, andappends the meta information to the event cluster. The event automaticcreation server 10 transmits the thus created event cluster to the userterminal 40.

The service providing server 20 provides various web services such as,for example, a photo content management service and a social networkingservice. Specifically, the service providing server 20 stores photocontent and social content uploaded by the user terminals 40 and 50, forexample. The service providing server 20 transmits such content to theuser terminals 40 and 50. Note that in this embodiment, content storedin the service providing server 20 has appended thereto, as metainformation, user information indicating a user who has created thecontent, creation time information indicating the creation time of thecontent, and creation place information indicating the creation place ofthe content. Such creation time information and creation placeinformation are, for example, in an EXIF file format.

The network 30 mutually connects the event automatic creation server 10,the service providing server 20, and the user terminals 40 and 50. Theuser terminals 40 and 50 create, upload, or display various types ofcontent, for example. The user terminal 40 is a so-called stationarypersonal computer, and the user terminal 50 is a so-called smartphone. Auser A has user terminals 40 a and 50 a, a user B has user terminals 40b and 50 b, and a user C has user terminals 40 c and 50 c.

Note that the user terminals are not limited to the aforementionedexamples, and may be television receivers, car navigation systems, gamemachines, music players, portable phones other than smartphones, digitalcameras, or smart tablets. In addition, the number of each of the eventautomatic creation server 10, the service providing server 20, and theuser terminals 40 and 50 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1.

[2-2. Configuration of Event Automatic Creation Server]

Next, the configuration of the event automatic creation server 10 willbe described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The event automaticcreation server 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12,and a storage unit 13.

The communication unit 11 communicates with the service providing server20 and the user terminals 40 and 50 via the network 30. The control unit12 includes, as shown in FIG. 3, a content acquisition unit 121, anevent cluster creation unit 122, and a meta information appending unit123. The storage unit 13 stores, as shown in FIG. 4, programs and thelike that are necessary for processes of the event automatic creationserver 10, photo content, social content, a temporary event cluster, andan event cluster. In addition, the storage unit 13 also stores a faceimage correspondence table. This face image correspondence table is atable in which face images and human information (e.g., names,nicknames, or user IDs on various social networks) about humans havingthe face images are recorded.

The content acquisition unit 121 acquires photo content and socialcontent from the service providing server 20 via the communication unit11. Examples of the social content acquired by the content acquisitionunit 121 include albums, blogs, short blogs, chat, mails, eventcalendars, contact information, and user profiles. An event calendar isdata in which an event and event participants (e.g., attendees orparticipants) like are recorded for each date. The user profile includesthe name, birthday, family make-up, address of the parents' home, hobby,belonging organization, and the like of the user. The contentacquisition unit 121 stores the acquired photo content and socialcontent into the storage unit 13. The content acquisition unit 121 mayacquire content from the user terminals 40 and 50.

The event cluster creation unit 122 creates an event cluster includingreference content and related content that has a different type from thereference content but indicates the same event as the reference content.Specifically, the event cluster creation unit 122 acquires from thestorage unit 13 photo content created by a given user (hereinafterreferred to as a “reference user”) as reference content.

Then, the event cluster creation unit 122 gathers photo content whosecreation times and creation places are close to create a temporary eventcluster. Herein, for example, the event cluster creation unit 122, ifthe difference between the creation times is within one hour, determinesthat the creation times are close, and if the difference between thecreation places is within 1 km, determines that the creation places areclose. The event cluster creation unit 122 calculates the creation timeof the temporary event cluster by averaging the creation times of thephoto content that constitute the temporary event cluster. Further, theevent cluster creation unit 122 designates the center of gravity(calculated average value) of the creation places of the photo contentthat constitute the temporary event cluster as a creation place of thetemporary event cluster. The event cluster creation unit 122 appends asthe meta information the creation time information and the creationplace information of the temporary event cluster to the temporary eventcluster.

Further, the event cluster creation unit 122 recognizes a face image inthe temporary event cluster by performing a face image recognitionprocess on the temporary event cluster. Then, the event cluster creationunit 122 recognizes face images that are similar as a face image of oneperson. The event cluster creation unit 122 identifies a human in thetemporary event cluster on the basis of the recognized face image andthe face image correspondence table. The event cluster creation unit 122appends as the meta information of the temporary event cluster humaninformation about the identified human to the temporary event cluster.After that, the event cluster creation unit 122 stores the temporaryevent cluster into the storage unit 13.

Further, the event cluster creation unit 122 acquires a temporary eventcluster including photo content created by the reference user. The eventcluster creation unit 122 acquires from the storage unit 13 socialcontent created by the reference user and a related user who is relatedto the reference user (e.g., a user in a friend relationship on a socialnetwork).

The event cluster creation unit 122 designates social content indicatingthe same event as the temporary event cluster as the related content,and associates the social content with the temporary event cluster.Then, the event cluster creation unit 122 gathers the content that areassociated with each other into a single event cluster. Accordingly, theevent cluster creation unit 122 creates an event cluster including thetemporary event cluster and the social content that are related to thesame event.

Specifically, the event cluster creation unit 122, if the creation timesof the temporary event cluster and the social content are close,associates them with each other. For example, the event cluster creationunit 122, if the difference between the creation times is within onehour, determines that the creation times are close.

The event cluster creation unit 122 associates a temporary event clusterwith an album having the same photo content as the temporary eventcluster. This is because an album is a collection of photo contentrelated to a single event. Accordingly, there is a case in which aplurality of temporary event clusters are associated with a singlealbum. That is, a collection of photo content is corrected by socialcontent.

Further, the event cluster creation unit 122 performs morphologicalanalysis on social content including text information to extract wordsfrom the text information. Then, the event cluster creation unit 122, ifthe extracted words include a word related to a period, designates theperiod as an event generation period.

Meanwhile, the event cluster creation unit 12, if the extracted wordsinclude a word related to a place, designates the place as an eventgeneration place. The event cluster creation unit 122, if the eventgeneration period includes the creation time of the temporary eventcluster and the event generation place is close to the creation place ofthe temporary event cluster, associates the social content with thetemporary event cluster. This is because, when such conditions aresatisfied, there is quite a high possibility that the social content andthe temporary event cluster indicate the same event. Herein, the eventcluster creation unit 122, if the difference between the eventgeneration place and the creation place of the temporary event clusteris within 1 km, determines that the event generation place is close tothe creation place of the temporary event cluster.

The event cluster creation unit 122, if the social content includesphoto content (for example, if the social content is a blog includingphoto content), associates the social content with a temporary eventcluster including the photo content. This is because, when suchconditions are satisfied, there is quite a high possibility that thesocial content and the temporary event cluster indicate the same event.

Besides, the event cluster creation unit 122 performs the followingassociation in accordance with the type of the social content. That is,the event cluster creation unit 122, if the date of an event calendarincludes the creation time of the temporary event cluster, and the eventgeneration place in the event calendar and the creation place of thetemporary event cluster are close, associates them with each other. Thisis because, when such conditions are satisfied, there is quite a highpossibility that an event calendar that is the social content and thetemporary event cluster indicate the same event.

In addition, the event cluster creation unit 122, if a user profilematches human information of the temporary event cluster, associatesthem with each other. Likewise, the event cluster creation unit 122, ifcontact information matches human information of the temporary eventcluster, associates them with each other. The event cluster creationunit 122 stores the created event cluster into the storage unit 13.

The meta information appending unit 123 acquires an event cluster fromthe storage unit 13, and creates meta information related to an event onthe basis of the event cluster (i.e., a temporary event cluster andsocial content included in the event cluster). The meta informationappending unit 123 appends the created meta information to the eventcluster. The meta information appending unit 123 stores the eventcluster with the meta information appended thereto into the storage unit13. Specifically, the meta information appending unit 123 performs thefollowing process.

The meta information appending unit 123 performs morphological analysison social content including text information to extract words from thetext information. Then, the meta information appending unit 123, if theextracted words include candidate words for an event title, designates aword with the highest priority as the event title. Herein, examples ofthe candidate words for the event title include an event name (e.g.,“cherry blossom viewing,” “fire works,” “birth day,” “birth,” or“wedding”), a facility name (e.g., the name of a theme park), and ahuman name. The priority order is as follows, for example: eventname>facility name>human name. Then, the meta information appending unit123 appends as the meta information event title information related tothe event title to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the extracted words includea word related to a period, designates the period as the eventgeneration period. Note that the meta information appending unit 123 maydesignate, among the times at which photo content were created, a periodfrom the earliest time to the latest time as the event generationperiod. The meta information appending unit 123 may, if the creationtimes of social content are concentrated at a specific period (if thenumber of pieces of social content per unit time is greater than orequal to a predetermined number), designate the period as the eventgeneration period. The meta information appending unit 123 appends asthe meta information event generation period information about the eventgeneration period to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the extracted words includea word related to a place, designates the place as the event generationplace. Examples of such word include a word that can directly identify aplace such as an address, and a word that can indirectly identify aplace such as a facility name. Note that the meta information appendingunit 123 may designate the creation place of the temporary event clusteras the event generation place. The meta information appending unit 123appends as the meta information event generation place information aboutthe event generation place to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the same person is includedin a predetermined number of or more pieces of photo content, determinesthe photo content including the person as event representative content.This is because, there is a high possibility that such photo contentincludes the most exciting scene in the event. The meta informationappending unit 123 may, if the event title is a person's name, determinephoto content including the person as the event representative content.Then, the meta information appending unit 123 appends as the metainformation event representative content information, which designatesthe event representative content, to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the same person is includedin a predetermined number of or more pieces of photo content, designatesthe person as a main character of the event. Note that the metainformation appending unit 123 may, if the same person's name isextracted a predetermined number of times or more when morphologicalanalysis is performed on text information, determine the person as amain character of the event. Alternatively, the meta informationappending unit 123 may, if the event title is a person's name, determinethe person as a main character of the event. Then, the meta informationappending unit 123 appends as the meta information event main-characterinformation about the main character of the event to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, on the basis of the temporaryevent cluster, the social content, the event title information, theevent generation period information, the event generation placeinformation, and the event main-character information, creates eventattribute information indicating the event attributes. The metainformation appending unit 123 appends the event attribute informationas the meta information to the event cluster.

For example, the meta information appending unit 123, if the eventgeneration period is longer than one day, the event generation place isoutside of home, and the social content includes a word representing a“trip,” “place name,” or “landmark name,” determines the eventattributes to be a “trip.” The meta information appending unit 123appends the event attribute information indicating a “trip” as the metainformation to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the event generation periodis less than or equal to one day, the event generation place is outsideof home, and the social content includes a word representing“recreation,” “land name, or “landmark name,” determines the eventattributes to be “recreation.” The meta information appending unit 123appends the event attribute information indicating “recreation” as themeta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, on the basis of the eventmain-character information and the user profile of the main character ofthe event, recognizes the birthday of the main character of the event.Then, the meta information appending unit 123, if the birthday of themain character of the event is included in the event generation periodand predetermined periods (e.g., one or two days) before and after that,determines the event attributes to be “birthday.” The meta informationappending unit 123 may, when social content includes a word representing“birthday” or “age,” determines the event attributes to be “birthday.”The meta information appending unit 123 appends the event attributeinformation indicating “birthday” as the meta information to the eventcluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, on the basis of the eventmain-character information and the user profile of the main character ofthe event, recognizes the parents' home of the main character of theevent. Then, the meta information appending unit 123, if the eventgeneration place is the parents' home of the main character of theevent, determines the event attributes to be “homecoming visit.” Then,the meta information appending unit 123 appends the event attributeinformation indicating “homecoming visit” as the meta information to theevent cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the sex of the maincharacter of the event differs from the sex of the reference user,determines the event attributes to be “dating.” Then, the metainformation appending unit 123 appends the event attribute informationindicating “dating” as the meta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the social content includesa word indicating “eating,” determines the event attributes to be“eating.” The meta information appending unit 123 appends the eventattribute information indicating “eating” as the meta information to theevent cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, when the following conditionsare satisfied: the event generation period matches an entrance ceremonyseason and the age of the main character of the event matches the age ofentrance into each school, determines the event attributes to be“entrance into school.” The age of the main character of the event isdetermined on the basis of the user profile of the main character of theevent. The meta information appending unit 123 may, if the socialcontent includes a word indicating “entrance into school” or “entranceinto kindergarten,” determine the event attributes to be “entrance intoschool.” The meta information appending unit 123 appends the eventattribute information indicating “entrance into school” as the metainformation to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, when the following conditionsare satisfied: the event generation period matches a graduation ceremonyseason and the age of the main character of the event matches the age ofgraduation from each school, determines the event attributes to be“graduation from school.” The meta information appending unit 123 may,if the social content includes a word indicating “graduation fromschool” or “graduation from kindergarten,” determine the eventattributes to be “graduation from school.” The meta informationappending unit 123 appends the event attribute information indicating“graduation from school” as the meta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123 grasps the hobby of thereference user on the basis of the user profile of the reference user.Then, the meta information appending unit 123, if the social contentincludes a word related to the hobby of the reference user, determinesthe event attributes to be “hobby.” The meta information appending unit123 appends the event attribute information indicating “hobby” as themeta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123 grasps the name of a child ofthe reference user on the basis of the user profile of the referenceuser. Then, the meta information appending unit 123, if the socialcontent includes a word related to the name of the child of thereference user or an event for children (e.g., “sports day” or“Shichi-go-san (a traditional Japanese festival for 3-year-old boys andgirls, 5-year-old boys, and 7-year-old girls)”), determines the eventattributes to be “events for children.” The meta information appendingunit 123 appends the event attribute information indicating “events forchildren” as the meta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the event generation periodincludes some anniversary (e.g., Father's Day, Mother's Day, or awedding anniversary of the reference user), determines the eventattributes to be “anniversary.” Note that the wedding anniversary of thereference user is determined on the basis of the user profile, forexample. The meta information appending unit 123 may, if the socialcontent includes a word related to “anniversary,” determine the eventattributes to be “anniversary.” The meta information appending unit 123appends the event attribute information indicating “anniversary” as themeta information to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123 determines the event attributesother than those described above to be a “daily event.” The metainformation appending unit 123 appends event attribute informationindicating a “daily event” as the meta information to the event cluster.

Note that the event attribute determination process of the metainformation appending unit 123 may be performed either in accordancewith a program or a template that has been prepared in advance. Thetemplate is adapted to record a temporary event cluster, social content,event title information, event generation period information, eventgeneration place information, and event main-character information andevent attributes in association with each other.

In addition, the meta information appending unit 123 associates eventclusters that are similar with each other. Determination if the eventclusters are similar is performed on the basis of, for example,commonality of event titles, commonality of the event generation places,commonality of the main characters of the events, or commonality ofmemories.

Specifically, the meta information appending unit 123, if the eventtitles are the same, determines that the event clusters are similar. Themeta information appending unit 123, if the event generation places areclose, determines that the event clusters are similar. The metainformation appending unit 123, if the main characters of the events arethe same, determines that the event clusters are similar. The metainformation appending unit 123, if each event cluster includes a wordindicating the same feeling (e.g., “freaked,” “fun,” “bored,” or“laughing”), determines that the event clusters are similar. Then, themeta information appending unit 123 appends link information for linkingto the mutually similar event cluster as the meta information to theevent cluster. This link information includes, for example, addressinformation of the event cluster and thumbnail image informationindicating the event cluster.

[2-3. Configuration of User Terminal]

Next, the configurations of the user terminals 40 and 50 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The user terminal 40 includesa communication unit 401, an input unit 402, a storage unit 403, adisplay unit 404, and a control unit 405.

The communication unit 401 communicates with the event automaticcreation server 10, the service providing server 20, and the other userterminals 40 and 50 via the network 30. The input unit 402 is, forexample, a keyboard and a mouse, and outputs operation information inaccordance with a user operation to the control unit 405. The storageunit 403 stores information necessary for processes of the control unit405, for example, programs. The display unit 404 is a so-called display,and displays various information. The control unit 405 controls eachcomponent of the user terminal 40.

Each user can generate photo content or social content using his/her ownuser terminal 40 and upload the content to the service providing server20. For example, the user inputs social content to the user terminal 40using the input unit 402. In addition, the user inputs photo content orsocial content in the user terminal 50 to the user terminal 40 byconnecting the user terminal 50 to the user terminal 40. The controlunit 405 appends user information, creation time information, andcreation place information to the input content, and outputs the contentto the communication unit 401. The communication unit 401 transmits thecontent to the service providing server 20. The service providing server20 stores the received content for each user.

The user terminal 50 includes, as shown in FIG. 6, a control unit 501,an input unit 502, a storage unit 503, a display unit 504, an imagingunit 505, and a control unit 506.

The communication unit 501 communicates with the event automaticcreation server 10, the service providing server 20, and the other userterminals 40 and 50 via the network 30. The input unit 502 is, forexample, a touch pad, and outputs operation information in accordancewith a user operation to the control unit 505. The storage unit 503stores information necessary for processes of the control unit 505, forexample, programs. The display unit 504 is a so-called display, anddisplays various information. The imaging unit 505, by capturing animage around the user terminal 50, creates photo content and stores thecontent into the storage unit 503. The control unit 505 controls eachcomponent of the user terminal 50.

Each user can generate photo content or social content using his/her ownuser terminal 50 and upload the content to the service providing server20. For example, the user inputs social content to the user terminal 50using the input unit 502. In addition, the user creates photo contentusing the imaging unit 505. The control unit 505 appends userinformation, creation time information, and creation place informationto the input (created) content, and outputs the content to thecommunication unit 501. The communication unit 501 transmits the contentto the service providing server 20. The service providing server 20stores the received content for each user.

<3. Procedures of Process of Information Processing System>

Next, the procedures of a process of the information processing system 1will be described on the basis of FIG. 7. Herein, procedures of aprocess of the information processing system 1 will be described withreference to an example in which users A to C have created photo contentand social content shown in FIGS. 8 to 9.

That is, in this example, the user A went out to a natural park in Acity, B prefecture with his/her family, and created photo content PH1 toPH3 and short blogs SB1 to SB2 at the natural park. Then, the user Acreated a blog B1 after getting back home in that day. In the blog B1,the photo content PH1 and text information B11 are associated with eachother, and the photo content PH3 and text information B12 are associatedwith each other.

Users B and C are in a friend relationship with the user A. As shown inFIG. 9, the user B created a short blog SB3 and the user C created ashort blog SB4. The photo content PH1 and the short blogs SB1, SB3, andSB4 are close in terms of the creation time. Likewise, the photo contentPH2 and the short blog SB2 are close in terms of the creation time.

Such content is stored in the service providing server 20. In addition,in a face image correspondence table, a face image of the person A11 isassociated with “John” that is a nickname of the person A11.

In step S10, the content acquisition unit 121 acquires photo content andsocial content from the service providing server 20. The contentacquisition unit 121 stores the acquired photo content and socialcontent into the storage unit 13. Content acquired by the contentacquisition unit 121 includes the photo content PH1 to PH3, the shortblogs SB1 to SB4, and the blog B1.

In step S20, the event cluster creation unit 122 designates the user Aas a reference user, and acquires the photo content PH1 to PH3 createdby the user A as reference content. Note that the event cluster creationunit 122 may designate another user as a reference user.

The event cluster creation unit 122 gathers, among the photo content PH1to PH3, photo content whose creation times and creation places areclose, to create a temporary event cluster. In this example, the eventcluster creation unit 122 determines that the creation times of thephoto content PH1 to PH3 are different. Then, the event cluster creationunit 122 creates a temporary event cluster to which only the photocontent PH1 belongs (hereinafter also referred to as a “temporary eventcluster PH1”). Likewise, the event cluster creation unit 122 creates atemporary event cluster to which only the photo content PH2 belongs(hereinafter also referred to as a “temporary event cluster PH2”).Further, the event cluster creation unit 122 creates a temporary eventcluster to which only the photo content PH3 belongs (hereinafter alsoreferred to as the “temporary event cluster PH3”). Further, the eventcluster creation unit 122 calculates the creation places and thecreation times of the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH3. In thisexample, the creation places and the creation times of the photo contentPH1 to PH3 become the creation places and the creation times of thetemporary event clusters PH1 to PH3 as they are. The event clustercreation unit 122 appends as the meta information the creation placesand the creation times of the temporary event clusters to the temporaryevent clusters PH1 to PH3, respectively.

Further, the event cluster creation unit 122 performs a face imagerecognition process on the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH3 torecognize face images in the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH3. Then,the event cluster creation unit 122 recognizes face images that aresimilar as a face image of one person. In this example, as the photocontent PH1 to PH3 include the person A11, the event cluster creationunit 122 recognizes the face image of the person A11.

Then, the event cluster creation unit 122, on the basis of therecognized face image and the face image correspondence table,identifies the person A11 in the temporary event cluster as “John.” Theevent cluster creation unit 122 appends as the meta information of thetemporary event cluster person information about the identified personto the temporary event cluster. After that, the event cluster creationunit 122 stores the temporary event cluster into the storage unit 13.

In step S30, the event cluster creation unit 122 acquires the temporaryevent clusters including the photo content PH1 to PH3 created by theuser, namely, the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH3. The event clusterunit 122 acquires social content created by the users A to C, namely,the short blogs SB1 to SB4 and the blog B1.

In step S40, the event cluster creation unit 122 designates the socialcontent indicating the same event as the temporary event clusters PH1 toPH3 as related content, and associates the social content with thetemporary event clusters PH1 to PH3.

Specifically, the event cluster creation unit 122, if the creation timesof the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH 3 and the social content areclose, associates them with each other. In this example, the eventcluster creation unit 122 associates the temporary event cluster PH1with the short blogs SB1, SB3, and SB4. Likewise, the event clustercreation unit 122 associates the temporary event cluster PH2 with theshort blog SB2.

Further, the event cluster creation unit 122, by performingmorphological analysis on social content including text information,namely, the short blogs SB1 to SB4 and the blog B1, extracts words fromthe text information. Then, the event cluster creation unit 122, if theextracted words include a word related to a period, designates theperiod as the event generation period. In this example, the textinformation B11 includes a word “Mar. 10, 2011” indicating a period.Thus, the event cluster creation unit 122 determines “Mar. 10, 2011” tobe the event generation period.

In addition, the event cluster creation unit 122, when the extractedwords include a word related to a place, designates the place as theevent generation place. In this example, text information B11 includeswords “A city, B prefecture.” Thus, the event cluster creation unit 122designates the “A city, B prefecture” as the event generation place.

The event cluster creation unit 122, if the event generation place andthe creation place of a temporary event cluster are close, and the eventgeneration period includes the creation time of the temporary eventcluster, associates the social content with the temporary event cluster.This is because, when such conditions are satisfied, there is quite ahigh possibility that the social content and the temporary event clusterindicate the same event. In this example, the event cluster creationunit 122 associates the blog B1 with the temporary event clusters PH1 toPH3.

The event cluster creation unit 122, if the social content includesphoto content, associates the social content with a temporary eventcluster including the photo content. In this example, the event clustercreation unit 122 associates the blog B1 with the temporary eventclusters PH1 and PH3.

The event cluster creation unit 122 creates an event cluster bygathering content that are associated with each other. In this example,the temporary event clusters PH1 to PH3, the short blogs SB1 to SB4, andthe blog B1 are associated with each other. Thus, the event clustercreation unit 122 creates an event cluster by gathering such content.The event cluster creation unit 122 stores the thus created eventcluster into the storage unit 13.

In step S50, the meta information appending unit 123 acquires the eventcluster from the storage unit 13, and creates meta information relatedto the event on the basis of the event cluster. In this example, themeta information appending unit 123 performs a process described below.

Further, the meta information appending unit 123, by performingmorphological analysis on social content including text information,namely, the short blogs SB1 to SB4 and the blog B1, extracts words fromthe text information. Then, the meta information appending unit 123, ifthe extracted words include candidate words for an event title,designates a word with the highest priority among the words as the eventtitle. In this example, as the text information B11 includes a facilityname: “natural park,” the meta information appending unit 123 designatesthe “natural park” as the event title. Then, the meta informationappending unit 123 appends the event title information about the eventtitle to the event cluster.

The meta information appending unit 123, if the extracted words includea word related to a period, designates the period as the eventgeneration period. In this example, as the text information B11 includesa word “Mar. 10, 2011” indicating a period, the meta informationappending unit 1213 designates “Mar. 10, 2011” as the event generationperiod. The meta information appending unit 123 appends the eventgeneration period information about the event generation period as themeta information to the event cluster.

In addition, the meta information appending unit 123, if the extractedwords include a word related to a place, designates the place as theevent generation place. In this example, as the text information B11includes a word “A city, B prefecture” indicating a period, the metainformation appending unit 123 designates the “A city, B prefecture” asthe event generation place. The meta information appending unit 123appends the event generation place information about the eventgeneration place as the meta information to the event cluster.

In addition, the meta information appending unit 123, if the same personis included in a predetermined number of or more pieces of photocontent, designates the photo content including the person as the eventrepresentative content. In this example, all of the photo content PH1 toPH3 include the person A11. Thus, the meta information appending unit123 determines the photo content PH1 to PH3 as event representativecontent. Then, the meta information appending unit 123 appends the eventrepresentative content information that specifies the eventrepresentative content as the meta information to the event cluster.

In addition, the meta information appending unit 123, if the same personis included in a predetermined number of or more pieces of photocontent, designates the person as a main character of the event. In thisexample, all of the photo content PH1 to PH3 include the person A11.Thus, the meta information appending unit 123 determines the person A11as a main character of the event. The meta information appending unit122 appends the event main-character information about the maincharacter of the event as the meta information to the event cluster.

In addition, the meta information appending unit 123, on the basis ofthe temporary event cluster, the social content, the event titleinformation, the event generation period information, the eventgeneration place information, and the event main-character information,generates event attribute information representing the event attributes.The meta information appending unit 123 appends the event attributeinformation as the meta information to the event cluster.

In this example, the event generation period is less than or equal toone day, the event generation place is outside of home, and the socialcontent includes a word “natural park” representing a “landmark name.”Thus, the meta information appending unit 123 appends event attributeinformation indicating “recreation” as the meta information to the eventcluster.

After that, the user A requests the event automatic creation server 10to display an event cluster using the user terminal 40 (or the userterminal 50). The event cluster creation unit 122, when requested by theuser terminal 40 of the user A to display an event cluster, acquires anevent cluster created for the user A from the storage unit 13. The eventcluster creation unit 122 outputs the event cluster to the communicationunit 11. The communication unit 11 outputs the event cluster to the userterminal 40 of the user A.

The communication unit 401 of the user terminal 40 receives the eventcluster and outputs the event cluster to the control unit 405. Thecontrol unit 405, on the basis of the event cluster, displays an eventcluster list image G-1 shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, for example.

The event cluster list image G-1 is divided into a meta informationdisplay area G1, an event representative content display area G2, a blogdisplay area G3, a communication display area G4, and a link displayarea G5.

In the meta information display area G1, a list of meta informationappended to the event cluster is displayed. In the example shown in FIG.10, event title information, event generation period information, eventattribute information, event generation place information, and eventmain-character information are displayed as the meta information.Needless to say, meta information displayed on the meta informationdisplay area G1 is not limited thereto.

In the event representative content display area G2, eventrepresentative content and a scene selection button G21 are displayed.In the example shown in FIG. 10, the photo content PH1 is displayed asthe event representative content. When the user A presses (selects) thescene selection button G21, the event representative content in theevent representative content display area G2 is switched. Note that inthe event representative content display area G2, a temporary eventcluster may also be displayed.

In the blog display area G3, a blog associated with the eventrepresentative content displayed in the event representative contentdisplay area G2 is displayed. In this example, the text information B11associated with the photo content PH1 in the blog B2 generated by theuser A is displayed.

In the communication display area G4, a short blog associated with theevent representative content displayed in the event representativecontent display area G2 is displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 10,the short blogs SB1, SB3, and SB4 associated with the photo content PH1are displayed. In addition, on a side of each short blog, an icon G41representing the creator of the short blog is displayed. Note that inthe communication display area G4, not only short blogs, but alsovarious communication logs such as mails may be displayed. For example,when the event representative content is photo content of an after-partyof a wedding, mails that have been exchanged among those concerned forpreparation of the after-party may be displayed in the communicationdisplay area G4. The link display area G5 displays link information G51.

When the user A presses the scene selection button G21 shown in FIG. 10,an event cluster list image G-2 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. In thisexample, the photo content PH2 is displayed in the event representativecontent display area G2 and the short blog SB2 is displayed in thecommunication display area G4.

When the user A presses the scene selection button G21 shown in FIG. 11,an event cluster list image G-3 shown in FIG. 12 is displayed. In thisexample, the photo content PH3 is displayed in the event representativecontent display area G2, and the text information B12 in the blog B1 isdisplayed in the blog display area G3.

Note that the control unit 405 may, when a plurality of event clustersexist, display only an event cluster having the event attributes (e.g.,“birthday”) selected by the user A. In addition, the control unit 405may cause social content (e.g., a user profile or an event calendar)other than the aforementioned social content to be included in the eventcluster list images G-1 to G-3.

Accordingly, the information processing system 1 can create an eventcluster including a plurality of types of content related to the sameevent and meta information related to the event, and provide the eventcluster to a user. Accordingly, as the user can collectively check theplurality of types of content, he/she can easily recall the details ofthe event. Further, as the meta information is created on the basis ofthe event cluster, namely, the entire event, the user can promptlyrecall a summary of the event by checking such meta information.

Further, as the information processing system 1 can create an eventcluster including photo content and social content, the user can easilyrecall the content of the photo content in detail by referring to thesocial content. For example, when social content describes a feeling auser had in creating photo content, the user can easily recall thefeeling he/she had in creating the photo content.

Further, as the event cluster also includes social content created by auser other than the reference user, the user can easily recall a feelingof another user for photo content.

Further, the information processing system 1 can first create atemporary event cluster by gathering pieces of photo content whosecreation places and creation times are close, and then create an eventcluster including the temporary event cluster and social content. Thus,the information processing system 1 can promptly create an eventcluster.

Further, the information processing system 1 can create event titleinformation, event generation period information, event generation placeinformation, event main-character information, and event attributeinformation, and append the created information as meta information tothe event cluster. Thus, the user can promptly recall a summary of theevent (e.g., an event name, a main character of the event, or eventattributes) by referring to the meta information.

Further, the user terminals 40 and 50 can, by referring to the metainformation, display only an event cluster having specific metainformation. Accordingly, the user can check only a desired eventcluster.

Further, the information processing system 1 can create event attributeinformation on the basis of not only photo content and social contentbut also event title information, event generation period information,event generation place information, and event main-characterinformation. Thus, the information processing system 1 can determineevent attributes in accordance with the actual circumstance of theevent.

Further, as the user terminals 40 and 50 can display the event clusterlist images G-1 to G-3 shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, the user can view photocontent, social content, and meta information all at once.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. It is obvious to those skilled in theart that various modifications or variations are possible insofar asthey are within the technical scope of the appended claims or theequivalents thereof. It should be understood that such modifications orvariations are also within the technical scope of the presentdisclosure.

For example, although photo content is used as the reference content inthe aforementioned embodiment, the present technology is not limitedthereto. For example, social content such as a blog may be used as thereference content. In addition, an event cluster need not include photocontent.

In addition, although the information processing system 1 collectspieces of photo content whose creation times and creation places areboth similar into a temporary event cluster, the information processingsystem 1 may collect pieces of photo content whose creation times orcreation places are similar.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below

(1)

An information processing device including an event cluster creationunit configured to create an event cluster including, among a pluralityof types of content, reference content serving as a reference andrelated content, the related content having a different type from thereference content and indicating the same event as the referencecontent, and a meta information appending unit configured to create metainformation about the event on the basis of the event cluster and appendthe meta information to the event cluster.

(2)

The information processing device according to (1), wherein the eventcluster creation unit acquires photo content as the reference content,and acquires as the related content social content that is content otherthan the photo content among pieces of content provided by a socialnetworking service.

(3)

The information processing device according to (2), wherein the eventcluster creation unit creates a temporary event cluster including aplurality of pieces of the photo content, at least one of creation timesor creation places of which are similar, and creates the event clusterincluding the temporary event cluster and the social content.

(4)

The information processing device according to (2) or (3), wherein themeta information appending unit, on the basis of at least one of thephoto content or the social content, creates at least one of event titleinformation indicating a title of the event, event generation periodinformation indicating a period in which the event occurred, eventgeneration place information indicating a place where the eventoccurred, event main-character information indicating a main characterof the event, or event attribute information indicating an attribute ofthe event, and appends the created information as the meta informationto the event cluster.

(5)

The information processing device according to (4), wherein the metainformation appending unit creates the event attribute information onthe basis of at least one of the event title information, the eventgeneration period information, the event generation place information,or the event main-character information.

(6)

An information processing method comprising:

creating an event cluster including, among a plurality of types ofcontent, reference content serving as a reference and related content,the related content having a different type from the reference contentand indicating the same event as the reference content; and

creating meta information about the event on the basis of the eventcluster and appending the meta information to the event cluster.

(7)

A program for causing a computer to implement:

an event cluster creation function for creating an event clusterincluding, among a plurality of types of content, reference contentserving as a reference and related content, the related content having adifferent type from the reference content and indicating the same eventas the reference content; and

a meta information appending function for creating meta informationabout the event on the basis of the event cluster and appending the metainformation to the event cluster.

(8)

An information processing system comprising:

a server including

-   -   an event cluster creation unit configured to create an event        cluster including, among a plurality of types of content,        reference content serving as a reference and related content,        the related content having a different type from the reference        content and indicating the same event as the reference content;    -   a meta information appending unit configured to create meta        information about the event on the basis of the event cluster        and append the meta information to the event cluster; and    -   a communication unit configured to transmit the event cluster        with the meta information appended thereto; and

a user terminal configured to present the event cluster transmitted fromthe server to a user.

The present disclosure contains subject matter related to that disclosedin Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2011-130962 filed in theJapan Patent Office on Jun. 13, 2011, the entire content of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

1. An information processing device comprising: an event clustercreation unit configured to create an event cluster including, among aplurality of types of content, reference content serving as a referenceand related content, the related content having a different type fromthe reference content and indicating the same event as the referencecontent; and a meta information appending unit configured to create metainformation about the event on the basis of the event cluster and appendthe meta information to the event cluster.
 2. The information processingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the event cluster creation unitacquires photo content as the reference content, and acquires as therelated content social content that is content other than the photocontent among pieces of content provided by a social networking service.3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein theevent cluster creation unit creates a temporary event cluster includinga plurality of pieces of the photo content, at least one of creationtimes or creation places of which are similar, and creates the eventcluster including the temporary event cluster and the social content. 4.The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the metainformation appending unit, on the basis of at least one of the photocontent or the social content, creates at least one of event titleinformation indicating a title of the event, event generation periodinformation indicating a period in which the event occurred, eventgeneration place information indicating a place where the eventoccurred, event main-character information indicating a main characterof the event, or event attribute information indicating an attribute ofthe event, and appends the created information as the meta informationto the event cluster.
 5. The information processing device according toclaim 4, wherein the meta information appending unit creates the eventattribute information on the basis of at least one of the event titleinformation, the event generation period information, the eventgeneration place information, or the event main-character information.6. An information processing method comprising: creating an eventcluster including, among a plurality of types of content, referencecontent serving as a reference and related content, the related contenthaving a different type from the reference content and indicating thesame event as the reference content; and creating meta information aboutthe event on the basis of the event cluster and appending the metainformation to the event cluster.
 7. A program for causing a computer toimplement: an event cluster creation function for creating an eventcluster including, among a plurality of types of content, referencecontent serving as a reference and related content, the related contenthaving a different type from the reference content and indicating thesame event as the reference content; and a meta information appendingfunction for creating meta information about the event on the basis ofthe event cluster and appending the meta information to the eventcluster.
 8. An information processing system comprising: a serverincluding an event cluster creation unit configured to create an eventcluster including, among a plurality of types of content, referencecontent serving as a reference and related content, the related contenthaving a different type from the reference content and indicating thesame event as the reference content; a meta information appending unitconfigured to create meta information about the event on the basis ofthe event cluster and append the meta information to the event cluster;and a communication unit configured to transmit the event cluster withthe meta information appended thereto; and a user terminal configured topresent the event cluster transmitted from the server to a user.